Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Wednesday seized another 9kg of the banned psychotropic substance etomidate and found links to a Malaysian national in an international drug export racket.

Officials said the seizure was made during follow-up searches after the arrest of the main accused earlier this week. Around 4kg of etomidate was recovered from a logistics hub operated by a courier firm.

Investigators said accused Nikunj Gadhiya had booked a parcel for air cargo on March 2 through a firm named DSUN Chemicals and Pharma, which was not registered in his name. The consignment was falsely declared as aloe vera powder to avoid suspicion and was allegedly meant for Malaysian national Chua Zhi Xuan, suspected to be a key member of the cartel.

The ATS said forged export documents and fake invoices were used to send the banned substance to Southeast Asian countries.

Earlier, 5kg of etomidate API was seized from Rudra Enterprises in Surat, registered in the name of another accused, Chetan Vavadiya, who has been arrested.

Previously, the ATS had seized 30kg of etomidate from a logistics hub, while authorities in Thailand recovered 15kg linked to the same network. The parcels were shipped from Mumbai air-cargo facilities to Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore using false declarations. DeshGujarat